


Heartland

by SoDoRoses (FairyChess)



Series: LAOFT Extras [110]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, Magic, Mild Horror, Miscommunication, Nobody Wants To Have Grown Up Conversations, Second Sight - Freeform, i mean theres always magic in laoft but lots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:34:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25068496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FairyChess/pseuds/SoDoRoses
Summary: Harley takes on Wickhills, and it gets worse before it gets better.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Logic | Logan/Morality | Patton, Logic | Logan Sanders & Thomas Sanders, Shorts Heart | Harley Sanders/Thomas Sanders
Series: LAOFT Extras [110]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1365505
Comments: 29
Kudos: 419





	Heartland

**Author's Note:**

> takes place the summer after Greenheart
> 
> For the prompts:
> 
> "Yaas ask opens again!! I would d I e to see some more Harvey, the guy is a pure bean and I love him so much" (from @gattonero17)  
> "Prompt: Thomas's boyfriends coming to the town and/or having the odd goings-on of the forest to him and/or meeting Linda. I really just really want Harley and magic stuff." (from an anon)  
> "Idea: Virgil and Logan giving Thomas's boyfriend The World's Worst Shovel Talk." (from @centrumlumina)  
> "harley meeting the loaft boyfriends?? a concept???" (from an anon)  
> "a sequel to greenheart from love and other fairytales would be amazing!! like how they explain it or how harley reacts upon meeting the husband collection?" (from @skskskkskskskk)
> 
> All on tumblr
> 
> And thank you to @trivia-goddess for beta-reading, your skills are invaluable and your commentary is a delight

Harley thought he and Thomas probably honestly looked a little goofy, sitting on the same side of the table – but Thomas was so nervous Harley thought he might actually take off like a bottle rocket, and the only thing that seemed to help was Harley pressing their legs together to calm the shaking.

Thomas fiddled with The Ring – which Harley had started referring to in suitably ominous tones, because this was his life now, apparently.

“I know you wanna wear the ring,” said Thomas, “And if you were anyone else _less_ sensitive, I’d say it’s a good idea, but…”

They had eventually figured out why Harley had such a strong reaction to the silver ring – mostly on accident. It didn’t work nearly as well if he wore it on his right hand, and when Thomas had examined his left he’d immediately noticed the cross-shaped birthmark on the back of Harley’s hand.

Special birthmarks and silver rings and hag stones and iron crosses – Harley’s head still spun with the sheer _mountain_ of new information he’d been exposed to in the last four months.

“But what?” prompted Harley when Thomas was quiet for a bit too long.

Thomas swallowed.

“V is-”

He shook his head.

“He’s a little different from- from most fae. A _lot_ different from Logan,”

“He’s, um- Unseelie, right?”

“Yeah but that’s not-”

Thomas shook his head.

“So is Roman’s knight friend,” he continued, “And I’ve seen her through a hag stone. It’s-”

He gave just the barest shudder.

“I’m not scared of him,” said Thomas firmly, “And you shouldn’t be either, he really is a softie, but-”

He swallowed.

“You do _not_ want to see him with double sight,” he said quietly, “ _Trust_ me, Harley,”

So Harley’s ring was in his pocket when they crossed over into Wickhills, and he saw nothing but blue sky and green, green, green hills in every direction. They drove through streets that looked like normal gray and brown streets past houses that were cheerfully colored and Harley didn’t see anything strange. It didn’t make any difference at all to how Harley felt eyes on him from every single direction.

Thomas didn’t react. Harley wondered if it was because he was imagining things out of paranoia or if Thomas was just used to the way even the air of this place felt like it was _alive_.

But other than that vague but inescapable sense of not-quite-right, everything else seemed totally normal. Thomas’s parents and Logan met them on the lawn, helping them carry in their things, and Harley could almost forget about the strangest parts of this visit in favor of perfectly normal meet-the-parents jitters.

Logan spent the afternoon as stilted and uncomfortable in Harley’s presence as he always did (Harley was pretty sure Thomas’s brother hated his guts, in spite of the fact that Thomas had repeatedly assured him that wasn’t the case), which made the moment the front door opened and Logan looked up, suddenly smiling, even more noticeable.

He met what could only be one of his husbands – no, two, because there was a short blond behind the brunet – halfway, and the other man caught Logan’s hands and spun him in a brief waltz that made Logan chuckle and the air around them faintly shimmer for a moment. Harley jerked his head away abruptly – no need to push it, and even without the ring seeing Logan be all… well, _magic_ , sometimes gave him a splitting headache.

“Greetings, dearest family members and singular guest,” said the brunet (presumably Roman, because he was taller than Logan and decidedly not the terrifying-and-warned-about V) over the top of Logan’s head, still holding him close even as Logan and the other husband – which must be Patton, then – traded bunny kisses and soft words.

“Before you ask,” said Thomas quietly, “Yes, they’re always like this. Hey Roman, Pat. How long before you detach and I can do introductions?”

A sheepish “Sorry,” and shameless “A while,” came back in perfect unison.

The shorter of them stood on his toes to kiss Logan one more time before coming around to give Thomas a hug. Releasing him, he offered Harley a hand with a sunny smile.

“Hi! You can call me Patton, or just Pat’s fine. Thomas has told me so much about you!”

“Right- Patton,” said Harley, “I’m Ha-”

He cut off, embarrassingly obvious, flushing.

“I mean, you can call me Harley,”

Patton giggled, and the sound of it sent a sudden, inexplicable shiver up Harley’s spine.

“Nice save,” said Patton.

“Don’t worry, no one’s interested in swiping your name,” said Roman, crossing over to the three of them with one hand still in Logan’s, “Well, no one in the room, anyway. Don’t get cocky,”

“ _Roman,_ ” hissed Thomas.

“A joke!” said Roman brightly, reaching out his free hand, “A jape, a jest, we’re good, everything’s fine. You may call me Roman,”

Harley took the hand, and Roman gave it a perfunctory shake before looking distinctly sheepish.

“Um, if it isn’t too much trouble, do you think I could see the-?”

He gestured for Harley’s other hand.

“The ring?”

“No, the mark,” said Roman, a little more enthusiastically than Harley thought was… strictly necessary.

“Calm down, dear,” said Logan, quiet and fond.

“Roman’s just excited,” explained Patton, tilting his head back and watching Roman with a hopelessly soft expression. Harley’s eyes caught on the mark on his now-bared neck, white and shimmering, looking almost holographic.

“You said it was the gift rune?” said Roman, startling Harley out of another shiver.

“I didn’t say it was anything, I told you what it looked like and _you_ said that,” said Thomas, exasperated, “This isn’t show and tell, Roman,”

“It’s fine,” said Harley when Roman winced, “Um, you’re- Thomas said a, uh, witch? So if you wanna tell me about it I’m, uh, definitely not gonna turn you down,”

Roman actually flushed a little, and Logan gave Harley a rare smile.

“Certainly,” said Roman, “May I see?”

Holding up his hand, Harley took note of the way Logan moved a little closer to Roman when Roman took it, a carefully neutral expression on his face and looking anywhere else. Harley wouldn’t have taken him for the jealous type, but he definitely relaxed when Roman dropped Harley’s hand.

“It’s very distinct!” said Roman, “And perfectly symmetrical, too, it’s definitely the gift rune,”

“So, what?” said Harley, “Gift rune, get ‘The Gift…?’”

Roman made a so-so gesture.

“Well, the rune is more about… exchange, reciprocity, that kind of thing. It’s probably why you get the headaches and the nausea when you use it, you know – a curse for every blessing, a price for every skill, et cetera,”

Jesus Christ. Harley was starting to wonder if they were dialing up the spooky on purpose or if they were all just _like this._ Roman didn’t exactly _look_ like Harley’s idea of a storybook witch but _that_ ominous comment definitely gave Harley “creepy hermit in the woods” vibes.

“… Good to know,” said Harley, “Well, it’s- nice to meet all of you, Thomas also talks about _you,_ a lot,”

“Aw, you _like_ us, Thomathy,” said Roman, socking him in the arm.

Rolling his eyes, Thomas batted his hand away, glancing between the three of them.

“Yeah,” he said, voice weirdly light, “But it’s really more like the _four_ of you come as a set, so you’re all in the same stories,”

The emphasis he placed on “four” was painfully obvious, and Logan winced. The other two looked oddly guilty, and Thomas frowned, reaching out to take Harley’s hand.

“Er- right,” said Roman, “I’ll just… be right back,”

“I just bet you will,” muttered Thomas.

Roman broke off, moving into what seemed to be Thomas’s parents’ office and shutting the door behind him. Patton smiled, a little forced, and pulled Logan into the kitchen and started chattering about helping Dot with dinner. Slumping a little as soon as the three of them were out of sight, Thomas turned to Harley.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, squeezing Harley’s hand, his eyes darting away across the floor.

Squeezing back, Harley reached out to tilt up Thomas’s face with his knuckles.

“Hey,” he said softly, “Don’t know why you’re apologizing,”

“Because- just-”

Thomas bit his lip, pausing, and then smiled weakly.

“I don’t know, I guess,”

“Your family’s quirky, I’ll give you that,” said Harley, and they both knew he was underselling it, but Thomas didn’t call him out.

“You haven’t run for the hills yet, so you’re doing pretty well,”

“I’m not running,” said Harley firmly, and Thomas flushed.

“I’m not,” Harley repeated, softer, “I won’t,”

The blush deepened, and Harley couldn’t help but snicker a little. Elbowing him in the arm, Thomas swooped in to steal a peck, which was easily the most normal, calming thing that had happened all day, and Harley immediately relaxed into it.

The idea of spending two weeks in what could, maybe, be considered the setting of a horror novel seemed _much_ less daunting, all of a sudden.

“Ahem,”

Thomas pulled back abruptly, turning to glare at Roman in the doorway of the hall.

“If you say _one word_ about PDA I will _scream_ , Roman-”

“I wasn’t going to!” defended Roman, stepping out of the dim hall and-

And his shadow came with him.

Alright. _This_ was _definitely_ V.

“Where did you come from?” blurted Harley, because he certainly hadn’t seen the guy use a door and also because Harley was an idiot.

V glanced at Roman, who patted his hand sweetly.

“Rhetorical question,” he said, “I think, anyway. Husband, Harley; Harley, V,”

“Hello,” said V. His voice was low, sort of crisp, like snow crunching underfoot. He held out his hand stiffly, and Harley shook it and tried not to feel too much like a mouse in a trap.

And then V let go of Harley’s hand and walked passed the three of them into the kitchen without another word.

Thomas’s face dropped into his hand, and Roman looked distinctly pained. Harley felt about five inches tall.

“Well!” said Roman, a little manic, “That went well!”

“What would have had to happen for it to have gone _bad?_ ” said Harley, strangled.

“Don’t answer that,” hissed Thomas.

“Wasn’t going to, _again,_ ” said Roman, “It’s- it’s fine, everything’s fine, we’re all fine,”

Well. If that was fine, Harley _really_ didn’t want to find out what constituted bad.

—

There was no sugar-coating it – Harley fucked up.

One thing – the _one_ thing he’d been told was a terrible, awful idea, and of course Harley had to go and be too curious for his own good.

The thing was – he had no intention of looking at V.

He’d been trying to look at _Patton._

The handprint was… really distracting. It caught the light in odd ways, shimmered like a prism tilted in a sunbeam. It almost seemed to brighten sometimes when Patton made noise, especially when he laughed.

And V had, seemingly, vanished into thin air anyway. He’d been gone so long Harley had assumed he’d left the house.

Slipping his hand in his pocket, Harley slid the ring onto his finger.

He tried not to stare too openly – he remembered how twitchy Logan had gotten – but… it was so _interesting._ Patton’s breath made little puffs of sparkling mist every time he spoke, as if the room was cold and he was exhaling glitter. Logan left that same rainbow afterimage behind him when he moved that Harley was – almost – used to, but Roman surprised him. He shimmered too, though in a much different way. It was more the air around him, like blacktop giving off heat in the summer. His hair looked more red than brown this way, the occasional streak of orange or yellow or even _blue_ in the corner of Harley’s eye that made Harley wonder, a little hysterically, if Roman was supposed to look like he was maybe just a little bit on fire.

It was strange to see Patton and Roman look so… alien and clearly magic, when they didn’t quite ping that same fight-or-flight instinct Logan had the first time. His curiosity was swimming in his chest, and Harley surreptitiously looked out the back window.

Little spots of colorful light darted around the backyard, like living sunbeams. _Pixies,_ thought Harley, Thomas had said Logan had friends who sometimes hung out in their yard who were pixies, like Tinkerbell.

“Lee?” called Thomas, “Babe, what are you looking at?”

“Nothing,” said Harley, turning away from the window.

A black shape behind Thomas was all Harley saw before the whole room _pitched_ like the spin cycle on a washer.

Terror slammed into him like a linebacker, like a punch to the sternum, all the air rushing out of him at once. He didn’t remember falling, barely registering the pain as his knees hit the floor – could only think _panic_ and _predator_ and _run, run, run NOW_ but how was he supposed to run when he felt like all his bones had been replaced with half-set gelatin?

Something grabbed him, and Harley pushed at it, weak and useless, with his trembling hands – he could hear someone sobbing raggedly, and it wasn’t until a hand closed over his and roughly tore off the ring that Harley realized it was _him._

“Harley, Harley, _Lee,_ babe, it’s okay, take a breath with me. Harley, _please_ , please look at me-”

Harley could barely bring himself to do it, petrified that whatever he’d seen behind Thomas would still be there, and even with the ring off of him and the sense that his sight was normal again, Harley desperately didn’t want to see it again.

But Thomas cupped Harley’s face in his hands tilting his head up, and there was nothing behind him except his parents, looking nervous, Patton with his lips pressed into a thin line, and Logan, who looked _furious._

Roman was gone – so was V, and that was enough to jostle Harley’s head out of its stupor of fear, for him to realize what had happened.

What he’d seen – what they’d _warned him_ he’d see. That was V- that was Logan’s _husband._ That- pitch-black void of _horror_ had been a _person._

“It’s okay,” said Thomas thickly, “It’s okay, babe, I know it was an accident,”

“You don’t put on a _ring_ by _accident_ ,” spat Logan.

“Honey,” said Patton gently.

“We gave him _unbelievably simple instructions,_ which he _ignored-”_

“Logan, _drop it_ ,” snapped Thomas.

“Hey,” said Patton, a little firmer.

Logan and Thomas glared at each other for another handful of moments – Logan broke the eye contact first, scowling, before turning on his heel and marching out the front door.

“I’m sorry,” croaked Harley, and Thomas just shook his head.

“It’s okay,” he said, pained, “It’s fine. Are you okay?”

Harley nodded, but he didn’t think Thomas believed him.

“Let’s get you in bed, okay?” he said, “You can lay down for a little while,”

“Thomas?” said Patton.

“I’m fine,” said Thomas, waving him off, “Go after them,”

Patton bit his lip, but he nodded, rushing to the door and following Logan out.

Harley really hoped he hadn’t just _completely ruined_ his first meeting with his boyfriend’s family – but mostly he got the feeling he’d done exactly that.

—

The next three days were among the most uncomfortable of Harley’s life, right up there with the day he came out as trans to his family and got an entire week of painfully awkward silences in response.

Logan barely spoke to him, and when he did he was frigidly polite. If Harley had been pretty sure Logan hated him before, he was certain of it now.

Patton seemed mostly exasperated, and Roman kept plowing through tense conversations with the sheer force of his personality, keeping the chatter up even when it was clear everyone would rather be hiding from each other.

Thomas seemed to have numerous, silent conversations with his brother that involved only making disgruntled facial expressions at each other and always ended with one of them storming off. If it was Thomas, he always took Harley with him, on an impromptu date to some cute shop in town. Harley had never seen someone eat ice cream quite so irritably, but Thomas managed it.

It was all very frustrating and very confusing, especially because no one would tell Harley what was going on. It should maybe have him angry, but mostly he just felt… hurt.

If Harley had really messed up this bad… was this it? An awkward break and then back home, where Thomas was gonna sit him down and tell him it just wasn’t gonna work out?

Seven months. Some people didn’t even count relationships as “long-term” until they broke a year. The idea of Thomas breaking up with him shouldn’t leave Harley feeling _this_ much like he’d been kicked in the stomach, like his heart being squeezed to stillness between his lungs.

“Hey, T?”

“Hmm?” said Thomas, looking up from the peppermint milkshake he’d been frowning into.

Harley paused, steeling himself.

“I was thinking… that I want to, um. Apologize to your brother-in-law,”

Because that was the real crux of the issue. Harley hadn’t seen even a glimpse of Logan’s third husband since Thomas had taken the ring off of him. No one had even mentioned him – it was like they were all quietly pretending he didn’t exist.

Thomas grimaced, tapping his spoon on the side of his cup.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Lee,” said Thomas quietly.

“If I upset him this much-”

“You didn-”

“Don’t say I didn’t,” said Harley dryly.

Thomas wavered, and then he slumped, tired.

“It’s complicated. But- I promise you, he’s not _mad._ He’s just…”

He trailed off, muttering, and Harley couldn’t quite be sure but it sounded like Thomas was calling V an idiot.

“Not mad?” said Harley dubiously.

“No, definitely not mad,”

“And Logan?”

Thomas winced.

“…Okay, yeah. Logan’s… a little mad,”

He opened his mouth as if to continue, and Harley waited.

“He’s just- kinda overprotective?” said Thomas, “I’m trying to get him to back off, I’m sorry,”

“You don’t have to apologize for your brother, babe,” said Harley, reaching across the table with his hand to grasp Thomas’s and bumping their feet for good measure.

Thomas smiled, but it looked weak and a little frail.

“Talk to me?”

Swallowing, Thomas shrugged.

“It’s dumb,” said Thomas, voice wobbly.

“Could never be dumb to me. Not if it’s you,”

Thomas laughed, but Harley could see glittering in the corners of his eyes.

“I mean it, T,”

Harley realized Thomas was squeezing his hand a little too tight, and he squeezed back to ground him.

“I keep thinking you’re gonna leave,” he said quietly, “That- that it’s gonna be one thing to many and you’ll run for the hills,”

“I meant what I said,” murmured Harley, “I’m not going anywhere,”

“I did say it was stupid,”

“Not stupid,” said Harley, “You’re allowed to be afraid. But you can’t scare me off, T. I…”

It wasn’t like they hadn’t already _said_ it – but somehow it _felt_ different, in a place like this, in a place that was magic where every word carried more weight.

“I love you,” said Harley, ignoring the feeling of being watched, “I love you so, so much. I won’t leave until you make me,”

Thomas let out another wet laugh, lifting their joined hands to kiss Harley’s fingers.

“So never?” he teased, though the look in his eyes was far more hope than joking.

“That’s the plan,”

Thomas giggled, and Harley gave up all pretense and stood from his chair, sliding into the booth on the same side as Thomas and tucking him under his arm.

“We look silly,” muttered Thomas, grinning into his cup.

“I don’t care,” said Harley, kissing the top of Thomas’s head, “I wanna cuddle my guy, darn it,”

Giggling again, Thomas turned to tuck his forehead into Harley’s neck, his shoulders finally free of the tension they’d carried for days, or at least most of it.

Stroking his hair, Harley thought of the tense atmosphere of the house, the worry and the anxiety that Thomas had been holding all this time, and made up his mind.

He was gonna have to talk to V.

—

Harley was sure there _were_ worse situations he could be in, especially in a place like Wickhills.

His mind turned over and over with Roman’s cheerful lists of hag subspecies and Logan’s muttered complaints about _irritatingly_ _bloodthirsty Gentry_ that he cut off whenever Harley got close and- yeah. Definitely worse things.

But “lost in the middle of an enchanted forest” was definitely toward the top of the list.

It had been late, though not quite the middle of the night, when Harley had pulled the ring out of the box that he’d put it in days ago and hadn’t touched since. He hadn’t put it on, but slipped it in his pocket, and crept out of the house and walked straight into the woods.

He just had to think like a fairytale protagonist, right? V was a prince, the Lord of the Forest – he must have some sort of castle, or fort, and it would be in the middle.

After about an hour of walking, Harley started to realize that maybe, thinking like a fairytale protagonist _and_ a regular person going hiking, might have been a better bet. Because he definitely had no idea which way the center of the forest was anymore, and was really not sure if he could even get back to the house.

Not a good plan, on all counts. He was wary of the ring now, but he didn’t dare ignore it. He slipped it on occasionally, glancing around him, and only ever saw the faintest glimpses of pixies in the bushes.

Shit. _Shit._ Should he… ask one of the pixies? Make a trade? He didn’t really have much to offer, and he was pretty sure that _always_ went poorly. He hadn’t thought this through nearly enough – Harley had been expecting there to be _paths_ in the woods, even rough ones, like in national parks, but there wer only underbrush and endless trees.

“Shit, shit, shit,” he muttered.

All at once, the temperature plummeted, and Harley jerked his hands out of his pockets even though he wasn’t wearing the ring at the moment. He spun on his heel, twisting back and forth to try and see what was coming, but there was nothing except the creeping, frigid air and the sense of being watched.

Harley turned on his heel a final time, and came face to – well, chest – with V, who was glaring down at him with an expression like thunder.

“Have you _lost-”_ he spat, “- _your_ _ **fucking mind?**_ ”

Well, whatever _that_ voice was it sort of felt like getting stabbed in the temple with an icicle, and Harley was not a fan.

“Um-” he said, eloquently.

“ _ **Shut up,**_ **”**

Harley shut up.

V glared for another several seconds, before visibly taking a long, slow breath and closing his eyes.

“Thomas,” he said tightly, opening them, “Is _awake,_ ”

Harley stared.

Narrowing his eyes, V spoke like he was talking to someone incredibly dense.

“Thomas woke up, _alone,_ and could not _find you_. Would you like to know what happened next?”

Oh, _shit_.

But- that didn’t make any sense; Thomas slept like a _brick._ It hadn’t even occurred to Harley he might wake up, he’d never seen Thomas so much as roll over in his sleep.

“Um-”

“Shut up,” said V again, but without that icy blades edge in it, “Thomas called for me, so upset I thought someone was _hurting him_ , and I come to find out that instead, it’s his wayward _boyfriend_ taking a night stroll at _one-thirty-two in the fucking morning_ in a pitch-black enchanted forest, halfway to faerieland,”

“Oh, it _is_ this way?” said Harley before he could stop himself.

V looked utterly enraged.

“ _That’s_ where you were going?” he said, “Why the _fuck_ would you do that?”

Harley held his hands out in an awkward motion, and V raised his eyebrows, waiting.

“I was, uh. Sort of-”

He made some pained jazz hands.

“-Looking for you,”

V looked taken aback.

“…Me,”

“Yup,” said Harley with a little pop.

V gave him a suspicious look.

“… Why?” he said dubiously.

Well. Moment of truth.

Harley really should have thought of what he was going to say during the walk.

“I wanted to, um. Apologize,”

V just stared.

“I didn’t- I didn’t mean to offend you, with the ring thing,” said Harley, “I was being nosy, and everyone told me not to look at you-”

V just barely flinched, but Harley was sort of working up steam now and couldn’t stop talking.

“-and I _wasn’t_ going to it, it really was an accident,” he continued, “I thought you’d left the house, but that’s no excuse, and I really am sorry. Thomas said you’re not angry, but-”

“I’m not,” V snapped, cutting him off, “I’m not angry at you,”

Harley felt his mouth wrinkle, but he couldn’t think of anything to say – had to be the truth, right? But Harley couldn’t think of any other explanation.

“Well… thanks. I think,” he said haltingly, “The thing is-”

He swiped a hand through his hair, blowing out a breath.

“Okay, I’m gonna level with you. This- thing, the way it’s going? Is really not gonna work. And-”

Swallowing he shook his head.

“I’m not going anywhere. I _love_ Thomas, and I want this to work, but it’s definitely not going to if his brother and in-laws can’t even be in the same room with me. So, I- don’t know why you don’t like me, but we’ve gotta figure out some middle ground here,”

He looked up, and V’s face had smoothed out, into something like resignation, or maybe sorrow.

“I have a human sister,” he said, “Did you know that?”

Which was a total non-sequitur, in Harley’s opinion.

“Yeah,” said Harley, “Uh, T mentioned it,”

He’d also mentioned that said sister was, you know, _dead_ , so Harley wasn’t sure how she was relevant to this conversation.

“Her husband’s name was Toby,” V continued, “Nice guy. Polite,”

Harley nodded, not sure how else to respond.

“I wasn’t very nice to him,” said V, “Even cruel, sometimes. I picked on him, and I’m sure that for a very long time, at least, he was afraid of me,”

A pause.

“You remind me of him,”

“… Hmm,” said Harley, lost, “Um- I’m sorry?”

V looked frustrated.

“I am _trying_ ,” he said, pained, “Not to make the same mistake twice,”

Harley blinked at him for several seconds.

“You- you’re avoiding me because… you don’t want me to be _afraid_ of you?”

V nodded.

“Oh,” said Harley, “Uh…”

Well. Harley supposed that was better than _angry_ , but it still wasn’t ideal.

“And- I gotta ask- how does that result in Logan hating my guts?”

V cracked a smile then, soft and adoring.

“L thinks you hurt my feelings,” he said, amused.

“Ah,”

V shrugged, and Harley fumbled through his own thoughts.

“Okay, well- the… _incident_ aside, I gotta say- I’m really _not_ scared of you, if I’m being honest,”

V raised a brow.

“Intimidated, yeah,” said Harley, “Especially when I thought you like, despised me, which was obviously gonna make dating my boyfriend kinda difficult, since he likes you a lot,”

V smiled.

“But not scared,” said Harley, “And even if I was, like-”

He blushed, shrugging.

“You’re not gonna scare me off, man,” he said finally, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m- I’m totally crazy about Thomas and I’m not leaving until he tells me to,”

The smile widened a little, and Harley couldn’t quite tell, but he thought that V’s eyes might be just the faintest bit shiny.

“He won’t,” said V, holding out his hand, “Hand. And hold still,”

“Uh, okay?” said Harley, taking it, “Gotta say, I know I’m a squishy human but I don’t think I need my hand held to walk ba- _ACK!”_

The world tilted and turned frigid for several seconds, and when the black cleared from Harley’s vision they were in the lamp-lit living room of Thomas’s parent’s house, where Thomas was pacing and wringing his hands.

“Lee!” he exclaimed, running across the room and then patting Harley’s sides like he was checking for injury, “Oh my goodness gracious, what _happened?_ ”

“I sort of, uh,” started Harley, sheepish, “Got it in my head that I was gonna go, um… like, find V’s castle? And talk to him. About the hating me thing,”

“Which I don’t,” said V.

“Which he doesn’t,” said Harley, “Right,”

“… Castle,” said Thomas dubiously.

“It… made more sense in my head,” mumbled Harley, embarrassed.

Thomas stared for several moments, before shaking his head, his face breaking into a smile.

“You dork,” he laughed, “Oh my goodness, I _can’t_ believe you right now,”

“Hey!”

“I love you,” said Thomas, still laughing, “I love you _so much_ but you are a _goof_ , and I’m _never_ letting you live this down as long as we live,”

Which made Harley’s face break out into a dopey grin, entirely of its own accord.

“As long as we live, huh?”

Thomas’s face flushed, and Harley cupped his warm cheeks and pressed a kiss to his nose.

“Sounds great,” he said, beaming.

And Thomas kissed him softly, and Harley knew, everything was gonna be fine.

—

Virgil slipped into the shadows, leaving Harley and Thomas and appearing beside his own bed. Roman and Patton were asleep on the far side, and Logan was sitting up against the headboard, a book in his lap and the lamp clicked on, though the glazed look in his eyes and the fact that he wasn’t wearing his _glasses,_ told Virgil he probably wasn’t actually reading.

“Did you find him?” said Logan, wiping his eyes of sleep and clearly frustrated.

“Yeah,” said Virgil, “Brought him back to Thomas,”

Logan wrinkled his nose.

“I hear,” said Virgil, climbing in bed and pulling Logan into his arms, “That you have been behaving like a bit of a thorn bush,”

He plucked the book from Logan’s hands, placing it on the bedside table and flicking off the light. He turned back, Logan was flushed pink in the dim light of the moon through the window.

“… Maybe,” he muttered.

“It’s cute,” said Virgil, kissing his cheek softly, “You trying to protect me. But… we fixed it. I think. We’re on the same page,”

Logan raised a brow.

“The same page?”

Virgil stroked the side of his face.

“Your brother’s going to marry that man,” said Virgil quietly, “I can tell,”

Logan’s expression was unreadable.

“…Yes,” he said finally, “Probably,”

He snuggled down into Virgil’s embrace, nuzzling his chest.

“I’m going to have to apologize,” he said dryly, “Aren’t I?”

“Yeah,” replied Virgil, amused, “Don’t sound so put out. I think you’ll live,”

“Shush,” mumbled Logan, already half-asleep.

Chuckling, Virgil pressed a kiss to his hair.

“Goodnight, my love,”

Logan’s breathing had already evened out, and Virgil’s heart gave a little flip of fondness.

He wondered if Thomas and his boyfriend had even noticed they were alone yet, and the flip clenched a little.

Harley looked nothing like Toby – didn’t sound like him either, or seem to have anything in common with him at all other than being beside himself with adoration for someone Virgil loved.

Virgil wondered if they would have got along.

And while he didn’t have any proof, in his heart, Virgil was sure they would have.

**Author's Note:**

> you can also find me on [tumblr](tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors.tumblr.com) or on the [laoft discord server](https://discord.gg/Y85SeKv)


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